slog
Americanverb (used with object)
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to hit hard, as in boxing or cricket; slug.
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to drive with blows.
verb (used without object)
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to deal heavy blows.
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to walk or plod heavily.
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to toil.
noun
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a long, tiring walk or march.
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long, laborious work.
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a heavy blow.
verb
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to hit with heavy blows, as in boxing
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(intr) to work hard; toil
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(intr; foll by down, up, along, etc) to move with difficulty; plod
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cricket to score freely by taking large swipes at the ball
noun
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a tiring hike or walk
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long exhausting work
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a heavy blow or swipe
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Conjugated Forms
Present
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have sloggedperfect
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has sloggedperfect 3rd person singular
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has been sloggingperfect progressive 3rd person singular
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am sloggingprogressive 1st person singular
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are sloggingprogressive
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is sloggingprogressive 3rd person singular
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have been sloggingperfect progressive
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slogssingular 3rd person
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sloggingparticiple
Past
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had sloggedperfect
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was sloggingprogressive singular
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were sloggingprogressive plural
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had been sloggingperfect progressive
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sloggedsimple
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sloggedparticiple
Future
Etymology
Origin of slog
First recorded in 1850–55; variant of slug 2
Explanation
When you slog, you toil at something, working hard and often slowly to get a difficult job done. You might slog with your shovel through the pile of snow in your driveway. A worker might slog through a pile of papers on her desk, or slog long and hard on a construction crew. In either case, the job requires persistence and determination. Another way to slog is to walk with difficulty, the way someone might slog along a muddy road to the gas station after getting a flat tire. The original meaning of slog was "hit hard," possibly as a variation of slug.
Vocabulary lists containing slog
Labor Day Lexicon: Words That Put You To Work
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The Odyssey
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Out of the Dust
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
It’s not a reviewer’s job to save a series from itself, but “The Copenhagen Test” provides pleasures enough to warrant an advisory: Slog through episode 1.
From The Wall Street Journal • Dec. 26, 2025
“LA was a sketchy place then,” recalled Dave Markey, whose 1982 documentary The Slog Movie captured the LA punk scene in all its raw, ragged glory.
From The Guardian • Mar. 17, 2017
That’s when he learned the true meaning of slurst: He participated in the Slog, a 10-day, 200-mile charity walk with his colleagues to raise money for Sudan, during which participants were not allowed to eat.
From Washington Post • May 16, 2016
Slog is the right word, Willa, for the journey we went on with Don last season.
From Slate • Apr. 10, 2014
Unto RENSHAW, GUNN, and GRACE, Balls mankind must kick or hurl, "Slog" or "place."
From Punch, or the London Charivari, Volume 99, September 13, 1890 by Various
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
